Preparing for the Rocks and Fossils workshop

Please:

1. Fill in the form to say which children will be painting which fossil. They are listed according to difficulty.

2. Please also fill in the form putting children into 6 teams (of mixed ability). These teams will compete during the day in the name the rock game and the fossil hunt. The children in the teams that win the games will each get a free fossil.

3. Arrange the tables in 6 ‘blocks’ around the outside of the classroom, with spaces all the way around each block. This is so children can surround the tables to look at fossils and rocks. Leave a space for the children to sit on the carpet at the front of the room and a table for me under the whiteboard.

4. The tables should be cleared completely before I arrive, as I will need to set out the rocks for the name the rock game before I start the workshop. I will arrive about 9.00 to set up, so I will need the children to be away from the tables until about 9.30, when I should be ready to start the workshop.

5. I will need your interactive whiteboard for my photos so please have it up and running.

6. Please make sure there is space on the side of the room, for storing or displaying the fossils which the children will paint.

7. If possible, please have a couple of extra adults to help children with the games and the fossil painting. The younger the children, the more important this is.

8. Please provide the following items for the fossil painting:

·         12 thick paintbrushes

·         1 paint palette per 4 children

·         1 pot of water per 4 children

·         1 paper towel per child

·         Covers for the tables and art overalls.

I will provide paint and thin brushes.

9. After the lesson (or at lunch if that is more convenient) I will have fossils for sale, at low prices - mostly 10, 20 or 50p, plus a few higher quality fossils for £1-2.

I look forward to working with you and your children.

 

Rocks and Fossils Teams

 

1

 

 

 

2

 

 

 

3

 

 

 

4

 

 

 

5

 

 

 

6

 

 

 

 

 

Fossil painting      Please assign children to the following groups, according to their artistic ability.

Everyone can have their own fossil, except for the Compsognathus and Archaeopteryx which are larger and quite complicated.

  Fossil, by difficulty level

Number of children

Names of children

Easy

 

 

1.  Trilobite (small)**

1-2

 

 

2.    Trilobites (big)*

1-2

 

3.    Ammonite (small)**

1-2

 

 

4.    Ammonite (big)**

1-2

 

 

5.     Dinosaur egg

1

 

6.     T rex claw

1

 

Fairly easy

 

 

7.     T rex tooth**

1-2

 

 

8.     Dinosaur footprint

1-2

 

 

9.        Crinoid

1

 

10.    Horseshoe crab

1

 

11.    Shark tooth (large)

1

 

Moderate

 

 

12.    Shark tooth (small)**

1-2

 

 
     13.  Trilobite (Hollardops)
 
 1  

15.    Ichthyosaur skull*

 

1-2

 

16.    Fish**

1-2

 

 

17.    Velociraptor claw

1

 

18.    Ichthyosaur tooth

1

 

Fairly difficult

 

 

19.    Starfish**

1-2

 

 

20. Dragonfly

1

 

Very difficult (fine details)

 

 

21.  Lizard**

1-2

 

 

22. Pterodactyl

1

 

23. Frog**

1-2

 

 

24. Ammonites (large group of small ammonites)*

1-2

 

* only one of these is provided but they are complicated so either 1 or 2 children can work on them.

**for a large class assign up to 3 children to these fossils